Neal Schon, the lead guitarist for the band Journey, has settled a lawsuit by a former Playboy model who said he owed her palimony for their "marriage like relationship" in San Anselmo, according to court documents.

Ava Fabian, the Playmate of the Month in August 1986, filed the lawsuit last year in Marin Superior Court. She claimed Schon, 58, owed more than $25,000 for their "express oral nonmarital relationship agreement" when they lived together in Marin.

The 20-month relationship ended in September 2011, around the time celebrity news reports linked Schon romantically to Michaele Salahi -- the woman who crashed a White House state dinner in 2009 with her husband Tareq. Michaele Salahi later became a reality-show participant on "Real Housewives of D.C."

Fabian, 50, claimed Schon had agreed to support her financially during their relationship and for "a period of time" if they broke up, her lawsuit said.

In return, Fabian claims, she "devoted her sole time, and energy" to managing Schon's affairs, including managing the household and attending to his mother and children from other relationships.

Advertisement

Fabian also claimed that his demands cost her professional opportunities, that he spread gossip that she was a lesbian, and that his behavior caused damage to her 100-stitch reconstructive chest surgery, according to court documents.

"Because I was recovering from surgery and incapacitated, (Schon) flew into a rage because I would not please him sexually in my condition," she alleged. "This resulted in (Schon) kicking me out of our residence and forcing me to pack up my belongings which ripped my stitches and cause (sic) the scarring on my body."

Schon denied entering into oral agreements with Fabian, sought the return of a 3.3-carat diamond ring valued at $100,000 and filed a motion asking Judge Roy Chernus to toss out the lawsuit.

That hearing was set for Wednesday, but the hearing was called off when the parties notified the court of an "unconditional settlement" in the case. Barring further complications, the suit will be dismissed in November.

The terms of the settlement were not disclosed in court filings. Schon's lawyer, Paul Berra of Los Angeles, declined to comment Tuesday. Fabian's lawyer, John Courtney of the Girardi Keese firm in Los Angeles, did not respond to inquiries.